Device for data input into a portable object

ABSTRACT

The invention concerns a device for data entry into a portable object, in particular a watch, with display screen comprising a control button ( 1 ) consisting of an elastic mass ( 2 ) wherein is housed a permanent magnet ( 3 ) and a positioning analogue magnetic sensor ( 4 ) with Hall effect for example, arranged inside the object opposite to and spaced apart from said control button ( 1 ), said sensor being adapted to measure the movements of the magnet ( 3 ) in at least one direction for data entry. The control button ( 1 ) is arranged in a blind housing ( 7 ) of a non-magnetic wall ( 5 ) of the object structure, to be mechanically uncoupled from the sensor, said wall not in contact with said sensor acting as sealing protection for the sensor.

The invention concerns a device for data entry into a portable object,in particular a watch, said device including a control button, wherein apermanent magnet is housed, and a magnetic sensor arranged inside theobject, said sensor being able to provide electric signals representingmovements of the magnet in at least one direction for data entry.

Data to be entered in said object concern both time-setting commands inthe case of an analogue or digital watch in which the movements of themagnet are measured by the analogue magnetic sensor to provide analogueelectric signals representing, for example, the desired time-settingspeed, and the read command, or the entry of messages or calculations,or game commands or programming for several functions.

In the fields of several daily activities, the use of small sizeportable objects, provided with electronic modules for executing manyfunctions, is widespread. Control members or buttons for entering dataor reading information are arranged on the case or the structure of theobject so that the functions of the object can be used. These objectsare for example portable phones, electronic address books, calculatorsor mainly wristwatches which are commonly used with data entry devicesof various kinds.

By way of illustration of a keying member for data entry into a portableobject, one can cite U.S. Pat. No. 5,841,849, which describes a personaltelecommunication device. The member takes the form of a rotary ballmounted in a complementary shaped housing in the telephone case. Therotations of the ball are detected to move a cursor on one of twoscreens into a function selection position. As soon as the cursor ispositioned, the ball can be pressed to validate the selection. Giventhat there is mechanical contact between the ball and parts of thehousing, which transmit the electric signals to processing means, wearis inevitable. Furthermore, this arrangement of the ball in its housingdoes not guarantee sealed protection of the electrical elementsco-operating with said ball.

In the case of a wristwatch, keying members, such as levers, havealready been proposed for carrying out commands in at least twodirections for an electronic game integrated in the watch. One can citein particular U.S. Pat. No. 4,395,134, which describes such a wristwatchwith a digital display. This wristwatch includes a data entry devicewith a control lever used mainly as a joystick.

After removing the joystick from a storage housing in the wristband, itsend is removably fixed inside an elastic mass or matrix whose loweredges are held on one surface of a support in order to create a cavitybetween the support and a lower wall of the elastic mass. A metallicpiece is fixed to said lower wall in order to form a metallic bridge,i.e. a short-circuit between metal pads arranged on an integratedcircuit to detect movements in two directions (X, Y) when the lever isactivated.

The data entered by this type of lever is achieved by short-circuitingmetal paths, i.e. in an on-off manner, which means that a distinctanalogue type measurement cannot be made as a function of the movementsof said lever in one or the other of two directions, as would be thecase with a Hall effect sensor which measures the movements of apermanent magnet. Furthermore, the metal pads are not kept sealed fromthe external environment.

Data entry devices, which combine magnetic Hall-effect sensors andmagnets, have been disclosed, in particular in the computer field, forapplications other than horological applications. Japanese Patentdocument No 8-152961 A describes an example of such a data entry deviceusing a computer keyboard control button. A single magnet is housedinside the button in two parts, which fit together. The lower part ofthe button includes a cavity, set on a complementary shaped structure,which carries an analogue magnetic Hall-effect sensor for measuring themovements of the magnet in two directions (X, Y). A second magnet isdisposed under the sensor structure to ensure better detection ofmagnetic field variations on the sensor measurement pads.

However, no precautions are taken to isolate the Hall-effect sensor in asealed manner from an environment that is not protected against elementssuch as water or aggressive chemical products, because said button isused only in the field of computers, which are usually placed in placesfree of such noxious elements. Furthermore, the lower part of the buttonis in direct mechanical contact with the structure carrying the sensor,which can induce wear.

Another example of a similar embodiment of a control button for dataentry can also be cited with reference to U.S. Pat. No. 5,714,980. Theassembly forming the control button, includes several magnets arrangedon one face of a control button disk facing an equivalent number ofmeasurement pads of an analogue magnetic Hall-effect sensor arranged onthe bottom of a casing for measuring the movements of the magnets in twodirections (X, Y). Elastic elements link the button disk to the upperpart of the casing to keep the button in a centred idle position.

As previously described, no precautions have been taken to protect themagnetic sensors from the influence of the environment, given that thebutton is used in the computer field, protected from aggressive externalconditions.

Japanese Patent document No. 10-20999 A shows a way of using detectionin both directions to define orientation of the control button. Thecontrol button includes Hall-effect sensor elements on a support and amagnet opposite and spaced apart from the elements. The magnet isinserted in a spring, which leans against a surface of said supportwithout allowing it to protect the sensor elements.

The invention concerns a data entry device using the combination of amagnet and a magnetic sensor, for example a Hall-effect sensor, fordetecting the movements of said magnet to overcome the drawbacks of theaforecited prior art devices.

This object, in addition to others, is achieved by the device for dataentry into a portable object, in particular in a watch, characterised inthat the analogue control button comprises an elastic mass housing thepermanent magnet, and in that the control button is arranged on anexternal non-magnetic wall of the object so as to be mechanicallyuncoupled from the analogue magnetic sensor, which is placed facing thecontrol button and on the other side of the wall, said wall being usedas a sealing protection for the sensor and for electronic means housedinside the object to manage electric signals of the device.

One advantage of the device for data entry into a portable objectconsists of the combination of a permanent magnet and a magnetic sensor,for example a Hall-effect sensor, separated by a wall keeping thesealing of the portable object, without any intrusion, through saidwall, by noxious elements from the environment in which the object isplaced. Modification of the orientation of the magnetic field, by movingthe button that includes the magnet, can easily be detected by saidsensor through the non-magnetic wall of the object.

Another advantage of the device consists of the use of a monolithicmagnetic sensor, for example a Hall-effect sensor, placed opposite andspaced apart from the permanent magnet, which is entirely enclosedinside an elastic mass or matrix. The sensor can be without any contactor in contact with the non-magnetic wall. The sensor is fixed to aprinted circuit board that also receives the electronic units or meansfor processing electric signals provided by the sensor. Sincemeasurement of the movements of the control button are made by amagnetic field passing through the non-magnetic wall, the printedcircuit board carrying the sensor does not need to be in direct contactwith the wall that carries the control button.

Another advantage of the device consists in providing a housing on thenon-magnetic wall, which can be a metallic wall, in order to be able tohouse the elastic mass enclosing the permanent magnet so as tofacilitate the mounting of said control button when the object ismanufactured. This housing is also used to provide better lateralholding of the control button, which can be moved in particular in twodirections.

Of course, if the housing that is, for example of complementary shape tothe mass, is not made on said wall, a mark has to be provided on thewall so that said mass can be fixed precisely without any difficulty, ora tool for mounting the button has to be used during manufacture of theobject, taking into account the location of the sensor inside the objectin order to place it precisely on the external wall.

With the arrangement of the control button and the magnetic sensor, onecan envisage measuring movements along one, two or three axes as afunction of desired requirements for the manufacture of the portableobject. However, measurement with a single sensor in two directions ispreferable in order to be able to move a cursor on a display screen withthe same control button or to go from one function table to anotherfunction table.

The objects, advantages and features of the device of the invention willappear more clearly in the following description of embodiments givensolely by way of example and illustrated by the drawings, in which:

FIG. 1 shows a top view of the object in the form of a wristwatch with acontrol button and two validation buttons of the data entry deviceaccording to the invention,

FIGS. 2 a and 2 b show a partial vertical cross-section along the lineA-A of FIG. 1 of two embodiments of the control button and the magneticsensor of the data entry device,

FIG. 3 shows a synoptic diagram of electronic units for processingsignals provided by the sensor of the device according to the invention,

FIG. 4 shows two graphs of the magnetic field generated by the magnetand measured by the sensor along the X, Y and Z directions of the magnetmovement,

FIG. 5 shows two graphs of the cursor speed on the display screen as afunction of the location of the control button along the X and Ydirections,

FIG. 6 shows the way to select the menus or elements of each menu thatappear on the display screen of the object taking into account themovements along the X and Y axes of the control button, and

FIG. 7 shows a selection variant of FIG. 5 wherein menu tables arechosen taking into account the movements along the X and Y axes of thecontrol button.

In the following description, the embodiments of the data entry deviceare preferably explained only with reference to the embodiment of awristwatch of analogue or digital type, but it is clear that the deviceaccording to the invention can be mounted on other portable objectshaving electronic modules, such as for example a telephone, a calculatoror an electronic address book. Furthermore, all those elements known tothose skilled in the art, which form the various parts of the watch willnot be described in detail. Reference will be made only to the elementsnecessary to make preferred embodiments of said watch.

In FIG. 1, a part of an analogue type wristwatch 10 is shown. This watchincludes a dial or display screen 11 formed of a liquid crystal displaydevice so as to be able to display in particular data or various menus13 to be selected, hands 12 for indicating the time, electronic unitshoused inside the case, in particular for managing electric signalsoriginating from the data entry device, a control button 1 with apermanent magnet arranged on a non-magnetic wall of case 5 fortransmitting a magnetic field to a magnetic sensor 4, for example aHall-effect sensor, housed within the case, and selection buttons 9 orentered data validation buttons.

Watchcase 5 encloses all the electronic units or means in a sealedmanner, including the magnetic sensor, for example a Hall-effect sensor,in order also to provide time functions, and the various menus ormessages to be displayed on display screen 11. The whole case, or atleast a wall in proximity to control button 1 has to be made of anon-magnetic material so as to allow the magnetic field generated by thepermanent magnet of the control button to pass undisturbed through wall5 so that the sensor detects the movements of the magnet.

Said control button 1 with the permanent magnet, which constitutes themain element of the data entry device, can be manipulated by a user'sfinger preferably in two directions X and Y so that the magnetic sensor,for example a Hall-effect sensor not shown in FIG. 1, hermeticallyhoused within the watchcase measures magnetic field variations due tothe movements imposed on the magnet. The analogue information relatingto the magnetic field values along the X and Y directions detected bythe sensor is transmitted via an analogue/digital converter to amicro-controller, which manages the received signals and transmits thedata to be displayed on the display screen 11.

The data entry device of the invention further includes the sensor, theconverter and the micro-controller, but FIG. 1 shows only control button1 placed on a non-magnetic wall 5 of the case and selection buttons 9.

Buttons 9 can be used for validating selected data with control button1, for deleting validated data or for move backwards in a selectionmenu. Of course, selection buttons 9 can be used to execute otheroperations known to those skilled in the art for making amultifunctional watch.

Given that the selection buttons are used for providing, for example, avalidation, return or erase command, they can be made simply in the formof pressure switches using a stem with a sealed passage commonly used inwatch-making. However an embodiment in the form of a control buttoncombined with another magnetic sensor spaced apart from and opposite thebutton magnet can be envisaged.

As can be noted for example in FIG. 1, when the watch is worn on thewrist, selection buttons 9 are positioned on the case of the side of the12 o'clock indication in order to be able to be pressed for example bythe user's index finger, whereas control button 1 is positioned on thecase of the opposite side of the dial in order to be able to be easilymanipulated by the user's thumb. Any other position of the buttons onthe case can also be envisaged with regard to other ergonomic criteria.

In another embodiment of the data entry device not shown in the Figures,the selection buttons can be omitted. In this case, the magnetic sensormust be able to measure magnetic field variations of the control buttonmagnet along the three X, Y and Z axes. The magnetic field values alongthe X and Y axes allow the data to be entered to be selected by passingfrom one displayed menu or function table to another, whereas themagnetic field along the Z axis allows the chosen data to be validatedand/or stored. However, as will be explained in more detail hereinafterwith reference to FIGS. 2 to 7, since positioning at the data to beentered and storage of such data is carried out with the same controlbutton and the magnetic sensor measures along three axes, this causescertain problems, in particular at the moment that the control button ispressed along the Z axis to validate the chosen data. This is why it maybe preferable, depending upon the moving mode of the cursor, to use themagnetic sensor for measuring either in two directions X and Y, or in asingle direction Z when one wishes to measure the pressure or forceapplied to said button to provide magnetic field values depending onsaid force.

The possibility of using the magnetic sensor for measuring the forceapplied to said button along the axis Z for example allows one to varythe speed at which the hand moves or the numbers scroll down, when thetime of a wristwatch is set by varying the pressure on said button.

However, problems of positioning on three axes can be resolved byallocating a non-linear kinetic function to axes X and Y. FIG. 5 showstwo graphs of the cursor speed on the display screen as a function ofmovement along the X or Y direction. This type of function, shown inFIG. 5, allows precise control of the cursor movement speed and has thegreat advantage of permanently maintaining the selected location simplyby releasing the button which returns to its rest position,corresponding to zero cursor speed. Once the desired position isreached, it is possible to apply a short vertical pressure along the Zaxis in order to validate the selected position. The non-linearity ofthe speed control allows, on the one hand, precise positioning of thecursor in X and Y and on the other hand, prevents any unintentionalmovement of the cursor during validation by pressure in Z.

FIG. 2 a shows schematically a cross-section along line A-A of FIG. 1 ofcontrol button 1 and the magnetic sensor 4 which is advantageously madeof a semiconductor material (for example a Hall effect sensor). Saidcontrol button 1 is formed of an elastic mass 2, for example made of arubber material, completely covering a permanent magnet 3, which can bemade of samarium cobalt (Sm—Co) or iron-neodyme-boron (Fe—Nd—Bo). Thelower part of this button 1 has a cylindrical shape and is preferablyarranged in a blind housing or recess 7 of complementary shape made in anon-magnetic wall 5 of the watchcase, on the external side. The upperpart of the button has a dome shape and protrudes from the housing so asto be easily manipulated by a-user's finger.

One can envisage fixing the bottom face and possibly the lateral surfaceof the lower part of the elastic mass 2 of button 1 in housing 7 by anymeans known by those skilled in the art, in particular by bonding. Thehousing allows the control button to be better held when it ismanipulated in the X and Y directions, and possibly allows the movementsof the magnet to be limited in one or the other of these directions

In an alternative embodiment shown in FIG. 2 b, the elastic mass 2 ofcontrol button 1 has the shape of a half sphere or spherical dome, thelower part of which is driven into a housing having a truncated shapeand an opening whose diameter is smaller than the base of the lower partof the mass or of a complementary shape to said lower part of the mass,not shown in FIG. 2 b. In this case, it is no longer necessary to bondthe bottom surface of button 1 to the bottom of housing in order to holdit, however making such a housing can cause certain difficulties duringmachining.

It is obvious that other shapes can be envisaged for the elastic massand housing to fulfil the same functions, for example the control buttoncould have a pyramidal or truncated shape arranged in a housing ofcomplementary shape. The upper part of said button can also be arrangedon the exterior surface of the wall while leaving the possibility ofbeing easily manipulated by a user's finger.

One could also envisage fixing the control button to the non-magneticwall without inserting it in a housing. In order to do this, either apositioning index on said wall should be provided when the button ismounted for it to be precisely positioned opposite and at a distancefrom the sensor, or a positioning tool able to take account of theposition of the sensor should be used for positioning the button on thewall during mounting.

The permanent magnet has a magnetisation axis perpendicular to thenon-magnetic wall and to the magnetic sensor. The orientation andmagnitude of the magnetic field in the sensor's plane are parallel andapproximately linearly proportional to the radial movement of the magnetin a region which depends on the size of the magnet and the distance dseparating the magnet from the sensor. However, along the vertical Zaxis, the relationship between the magnetic field and the distanceseparating the sensor from the magnet is not linear around a givenstarting distance d as can be seen in the graphs of FIG. 4 that show themagnetic field variations along the three X, Y and Z directions.

In both cases, magnetic field variations of the order of 10 mT or moreover the useful movement which is of the order of half the thickness ofa quasi-cubic samarium cobalt magnet can be obtained. A semiconductormonolithic Hall effect sensor can easily detect these magnetic fieldvariations.

A sensor of this type that measures the magnetic field for example alongthree directions is described in particular in EP Patent No 0 947 846and is marketed under the name 3D-H-10 or 3D-H-30 by Sentron in Zug,Switzerland. This sensor is based on the vertical Hall effect fordetection in the plane and on the lateral Hall effect for perpendiculardetection. It has contact pads for receiving the supply current andcontact pads leading the electric voltages dependent on the appliedmagnetic field to the outside. These voltages allow the magnitudes ofB_(x), B_(y), and B_(z) components of the magnetic field along the threemeasuring axes X, Y, and Z to be extracted.

Of course, other types of magnetic sensors exist capable of beingintegrated on very small semiconductor surfaces or other appropriatedsubstrates. These sensors can in particular use the magnetoresistiveeffect (for example of the HCM1052 type by Honeywell) or the fluxgateprinciple (cf. the thesis of L. Chiési, <<Planar 2D FluxgateMagnetometer for CMOS Electronic Compass>>, Hartung-Gorre Verlag, ISBN3-89649-478-3, 1999).

As can be seen in FIGS. 2 a and 2 b, magnetic sensor 4 is placed on aprinted circuit board 6 carrying metal paths for electrically connectingthe various electronic elements of the data entry device, such as theconverter and the micro-controller that are not shown in FIGS. 2 a and 2b. Metal wires 8 connect output pads of the sensor to the contact padsof the metallic paths of the printed circuit board if the sensor is notencapsulated in a plastic material. The sensor placed on the printedcircuit board is mechanically uncoupled from control button 1.

The use of non-magnetic wall 5 of the case which is preferably not incontact with the sensor, guarantees total protection of the sensor andassociated systems against damp or other external elements capable ofdamaging them. The watch with its protected data entry device can thusbe used without any risk in any environment without any particularprecaution. One could envisage making for example a diver's watch intowhich data can be entered using control and selection buttons.

FIG. 3 shows the electronic circuits of the device connected for exampleto a Hall effect sensor, which process the electric control signalsrelated to data to be entered or read. These circuits form a part of theelectronic units of the watch.

Hall sensor 4 receives from analogue/digital converter 14, a currentI_(B) which passes through the resistive zones of the dopedsemiconductor substrate, as shown for example in EP Patent No. 0 947846. Voltages V_(x), V_(Y) and V_(Z) representative of the magneticfield along the three axes, are amplified and digitised in unit 14(monolithic CMOS circuit). In the case of a sensor measuring thecomponents along the X and Y axes, the sensor can only supply voltagesV_(x) and V_(Y) at its output.

The analogue/digital converter communicates the numerical values to amicro-controller 16 via a data bus 15 so that it can process said valuesto supply control signals to the liquid crystal display or the motorsdriving the hands of the watch via a bus 17. The data to be displayedwhich depend on the received voltage numerical values and which aretransmitted by the micro-controller to watch display, are for exampleselection menus, value tables, alphanumerical characters orcalculations. Two signals S1 and S2 from the selection buttons are alsosupplied to the micro-controller for deleting data or storing orvalidating entered data.

The micro-controller includes in particular an oscillator circuit whichgenerates for example a frequency of 32 kHz so as to supply clocksignals to logic circuit stages, a frequency division chain for timerelated data to be displayed, memory means distributed in one read onlymemory with a dedicated processing and data supplying programme and in arandom access memory for storing provisional data. These elements of themicro-controller are not described in detail and are not shown in FIG.3, as they are well known to those skilled in the art in this technicalfield.

By way of illustration, reference will be made to FIGS. 5 to 7 to showhow the data is entered in the watch using the control button andpossibly a selection button.

There are two possible modes of movement for the cursor on a display.The first mode consists in converting the deflection (by pressure) ofthe button into the absolute position of the cursor on the display. Itis a kind of movement amplifier. This mode has the advantage of beingfast and intuitive but requires the holding of the position duringvalidation which can be problematic. The second mode consists inconverting the deflection (by pressure) of the button into a cursormovement speed (FIG. 5), which has the advantage of allowing the cursorto be immobilised in a selected position when the button is no longeractuated and returned to its rest position. One could also imagine usingthe deflection of the button to control the acceleration of the cursor(useful for scrolling down a large amount of data but not veryintuitive), with a speed cancellation function when the button returnsto its rest position.

In FIG. 6, various menus extracted from the memory means of themicro-controller are displayed on the display screen. By moving thecontrol button in the Y direction, a menu or function change is carriedout, for example making the position of the menu or function to beselected flash or moving a cursor that appears on the display screenfrom a position indicating “time” to a position indicating “alpha”(alphanumerical).

From this linear menu, after validation, shown by a dotted line in FIG.6, one enters a mass of characters formed of segments (A . . . F, G . .. L, etc.). These segments are selected by moving the button along the Yaxis and moving the button along the X axis scrolls the characters ofone segment down. The selected segment can be displayed alone on thedisplay screen or flashing within the complete displayed mass. Finally,the selected character will be displayed, possibly flashing, at the endof a chain of characters already composed. These operations are repeateduntil the message to be stored is completed

It is to be noted that validation of the selected letter can be carriedout without using a selection button, but in this case, the letterselection is validated by leaving the control button inactivated for acertain period of time after selection of the letter. However, when themessage has been composed, it has to be validated and a message storingcommand entered, in particular via one of the selection buttons. Themessage is stored in the micro-controller memory means so as to be ableto be subsequently read.

One could also envisage transmitting, in a wireless manner, the enteredand stored messages to an external apparatus having a transmission andreception device for electric signals of the same type as that of thewatch.

If the menu or function selected when the control button is actuated inthe Y direction concerns time setting, movement in the X direction canmake the watch hands move forwards or backwards at a speed depending onthe magnetic field picked up, i.e. the further the control button ismoved from its rest position the faster the watch hands will moveforwards or backwards. In the case of an entirely digital watch,movement in the X direction will increment or decrement the timeindication shown in figures.

In the embodiment shown in FIG. 7 which is a variant of that shown inFIG. 6, one could also envisage passing from one table of functions toanother table by moving the button along the Y axis and passing from onefunction of the same table to another by moving the button along the Xaxis as can easily be seen in FIG. 6. First of all, moving the controlbutton along the X axis positions a cursor at a selected function orcauses the selected function to flash in the first table. Then, movingthe control button along the Y axis causes the table to change. Anothertable of sub-functions appears under each function of an upper table,when the control button is moved along the Y axis.

It is also possible to scroll down the same tables from a linear menuwhich is selected by validation. This mode allows the X-Y commands froma selected table to be used to move easily within the table to be used.

In FIG. 7, three tables of functions or menus and sub-functions orsub-menus had to be selected in order to enter, for example, a lettershown flashing in said Figure by moving the control button along the Xdirection. When the message has been composed, the same validationoperations indicated with reference to FIG. 6 can be applied.

From the above description, these skilled in the art can envisagemultiple variant embodiments of the data entry device without departingfrom the scope of the invention. For example, instead of having a singlecontrol button, one could envisage providing said watch, or any portableobject, with two control buttons, each with an associated magneticsensor, for example a Hall effect sensor, for measuring the magneticfield of the magnet corresponding to the control button that has beenmanipulated. Of course, as explained hereinbefore, the selection buttonscan be designed in the same way as the control button. The magneticsensor could also be in contact with an internal surface of thenon-magnetic wall protecting it or bonded to said internal surfaceleaving the magnetic sensor at a distance opposite the magnet of thecontrol button.

1.-16. (canceled)
 17. A device for data entry into a portable object, inparticular into a watch, said device including a control button arrangedon an external non-magnetic wall of the object, said button comprisingan elastic mass enclosing a permanent magnet, and a magnetic sensorarranged inside the object on the other side of the wall and facing thecontrol button, said sensor being able to provide electric signalsrepresenting movements of the magnet to electronic data processingmeans, wherein a lower surface of the analogue control button, which ismechanically uncoupled from the sensor, is held fixed so that the magnetin the elastic mass can be bent during movements of said control button,and wherein the single analogue magnetic sensor is arranged to measure amagnetic field variation caused by the movement of the button in atleast one direction component parallel to said wall, said wall acting assealed protection for the sensor and the electronic means housed withinthe object for managing the electric signals of the device.
 18. Thedevice according to claim 17, wherein the single analogue magneticsensor is arranged to measure also a magnetic field variation caused bythe movement of the button in a second direction component perpendicularto said wall.
 19. The device according to claim 17, in an objectprovided with a data display screen, wherein the data processing meansare adapted to determine a linear or non linear scrolling down speed ofa cursor or functions or menus or tables or characters to be selected onthe screen, on the basis of the electric signals of the sensor whichdepend on the magnetic field variation caused by moving the controlbutton.
 20. The device according to claim 17, wherein the lower part ofthe elastic mass of the control button is fixed in a blind housing ofthe non-magnetic wall.
 21. The device according to claim 20, wherein thelower part of the elastic mass of cylindrical shape is fixed in thecomplementary shaped housing.
 22. The device according to claim 20,wherein the elastic mass has the shape of a half sphere or spherical,truncated or pyramidal dome, and wherein the housing has a complementaryshape to the lower part of the mass or a truncated shape, the housinghaving an opening whose diameter is smaller than the maximum diameter ofthe lower part of said mass.
 23. The device according to claim 17,wherein the axis of magnetisation of the magnet in the control buttonrest position is arranged perpendicularly to the non-magnetic wall, andwherein the sensor facing the control button is spaced apart from thenon-magnetic wall.
 24. The device according to claim 17, in an objectprovided with a data display screen, wherein the electronic meansinclude an analogue/digital converter receiving voltage values from thesensor for each measuring direction of the sensor, and amicro-controller connected to the converter and provided with memorymeans in which data are pre-recorded in order to be able to be displayedon the screen by acting on the control button.
 25. The device accordingto claim 17, wherein the single sensor made in a semiconductor materialis arranged to provide electric signals representing the movements ofthe control button magnet along two horizontal directions.
 26. Thedevice according to claim 17, wherein the single sensor made in asemiconductor material is arranged to provide electric signalsrepresenting the movements of the control button magnet along twohorizontal directions and a vertical direction perpendicular to thenon-magnetic wall.
 27. The device according to claim 17, in an objectprovided with a data display screen, wherein it includes at least oneselection button allowing the selected data appearing on the displayscreen to be validated or deleted by the control button.
 28. The deviceaccording to claim 27, wherein the selection button includes anotherelastic mass enclosing another permanent magnet, said mass being placedon the non-magnetic wall, and wherein another magnetic sensor is placedwithin the structure of the object opposite the selection button. 29.The device according to claim 24, wherein moving the control button inone direction causes functions or menus or tables to be selected fromthe storage means to scroll down on the screen, whereas moving thecontrol button in another direction causes sub-functions or sub-menus orcharacters to be selected to scroll down.
 30. The device according toclaim 24, wherein moving the control button along two directions allowsone to run through a selected function table on the display screen in alinear or mass movement mode.
 31. The device according to claim 25,wherein moving the control button along one of the two horizontaldirections allows functions or menus or tables to be selected from thememory means to scroll down on the screen, whereas moving the controlbutton in the other horizontal direction allows sub-functions orsub-menus or characters to be selected to scroll down, and whereinmoving the button in the vertical direction allows selection of afunction or a menu or characters to be validated.
 32. The deviceaccording to claim 17, wherein the sensor is a magnetic Hall effectsensor or a magneto-resistive sensor or a fluxgate sensor.